EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the international community must speed up efforts for a political solution to end the fighting in Lebanon and prevent a “conflagration”, AFP reports.

In a statement released the day after a conference on aid for Lebanon in France, Borrell said the first step needed was a “ceasefire” between Israel and Hezbollah.

“We are currently engaged in a race against time between the possible start of a political process in Lebanon and a generalised conflagration with incalculable consequences,” Borrell said.

“Without a suspension of hostilities, nothing will be possible,” he said. Borrell said once fighting was halted, Lebanon needed to organise long-postponed presidential elections “as soon as possible”.

He said the Lebanese Armed Forces must become the “only military force present” in the south of the country, where Israel is engaged in ground battles with Hezbollah.

A UN peacekeeping mission in the area must also be strengthened, he said. International calls for an end to fighting have so far failed to end the fighting in the region.